As the fifth-largest economy in the world, India is an attractive spot for entrepreneurs to launch their risky and disruptive business ventures. And with over 112,000 startups — including 111 total unicorns — officially recognized, the country is home to the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, trailing only the United States and China.
Top Startups in India
- BharatPe
- Krutrim
- ShareChat
- Nykka
- Ola
- Swiggy
- Sarvam AI
- Zepto
- Skyroot Aerospace
- CRED
From generative AI to ride-hailing apps and grocery-delivery services, the following startups are driving tech innovation and contributing to the country’s overall economic growth.
20 Top Startups Companies in India
Ola is the world’s third largest ride-hailing app. Rather than owning its own fleet, the startup acts as a taxi aggregator that connects riders to a network of over 1.5 million taxi drivers and vehicle owners for point-to-point and roundtrip transportation. The app’s safety features use AI and machine learning to automatically detect irregular vehicle activity and make sure to match passengers to the correct driver with a one-time code.
Pocket FM is an audio series platform. Founded in 2018, the digital storytelling service offers more than 2,000 different series of podcasts, audiobooks and radio shows. Available in over 20 countries, the Bangalore-based company has attracted more than 130 million global listeners who stream about 115 minutes daily.
Games24x7 is a Mumbai-based online gaming platform that combines behavioral science, technology and AI to create engaging, hyper-personalized user experiences based on collected data. Its full-stack portfolio spans skill, fantasy sports and casual games including RummyCircle, India’s most popular online rummy platform, and My11Circle, the country’s second-largest fantasy sports app. Founded in 2006, the company hosts over 100 million players.
Founded in 2013, Mad Street Den is a Chennai-based AI startup that’s building business-oriented AI solutions. The company’s flagship product is Vue.ai, an AI-powered platform designed specifically for retail. It uses computer vision and machine learning to automate processes like product tagging, visual search, personalized recommendations and writing product descriptions.
Skyroot Aerospace designs and manufactures modular launch vehicles for satellites. The Hyderabad-based company has developed liquid-fuel upper stage engines, carbon-composite rocket motors, 3D-printed cryogenic engines and its Vikram series of small-lift launch vehicles. This technology is equipped for multi orbit insertion and interplanetary missions, with hopes to eventually “open space for all” for human travel.
Wysa is an AI-driven mental health app designed to provide emotional support and mental wellness assistance. It functions primarily as a chatbot that engages users in conversations to help manage stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns. Using evidence-based cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques, mindfulness exercises and mood tracking, it can assist users in building mental resilience skills and even connect users to a network of professional therapists.
AI startup Krutrim is creating a multilingual chatbot, described by the startup as India’s own ChatGPT. The large language model is being trained using 20 local Indian languages — including Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Odiya and Telugu — as well as English, and will eventually be accompanied by a voice-enabled conversational AI assistant. In 2024, Krutrim became India’s first AI-driven startup to reach unicorn status.
Headquartered in Mumbai, Zepto is a unicorn-status delivery service platform that promises 10-minute grocery deliveries. To do so, the company uses a hub-and-spoke system of dark stores and micro-warehouses strategically placed near bustling urban areas in order to deliver over 5,000 products, from fresh produce to household items and electronic gadgets, in a timely manner.
Molbio Diagnostics is a molecular diagnostics manufacturer that specializes in accurate, low-cost diagnostic tools. Its portfolio of advanced portable devices, including its microchip-based Truenat rapid tests, can detect infectious diseases like tuberculosis, hepatitis, diabetes and various cancers at the point-of-care. Headquartered in Goa, the startup aims to make medical care more accessible, especially in remote and under-resourced areas.
Sarvam is a Bangalore-based AI startup creating voice-based large language models tailored to India's diverse linguistic and cultural landscape. The company specializes in building generative AI models that include speech-to-text, text-to-speech, contextual translation and advanced data parsing systems, all designed for use in regional languages. Sarvam recently announced a partnership with Microsoft to scale its tech through Azure and encourage the widespread adoption of AI across India.
Rebel Foods is a Mumbai-based food delivery platform with hundreds of cloud kitchens, including brands like Faasos, Behrouz Biryani and Oven Story. With over two million customers, these takeout-only facilities support more than 4,000 virtual restaurants across 70 cities, and can be outsourced to other restaurateurs to expand an existing brand or build a new one online at low cost.
Supersourcing is an AI-powered recruitment platform for companies looking to hire engineers and software developers. Used by industry giants Tesla, Amazon and Meta, its services reduce the time it takes for talent matching, candidate screening and onboarding by 90 percent. Supersourcing was recognized as a top 20 AI startup in the Google for Startups Accelerator program, having placed over 10,000 developers on contract to date.
Bike-taxi startup Rapido specializes in two-wheeler transportation — namely motorcycles and scooters — for its ride-hailing services, as a way to bypass peak-hour traffic in congested urban centers. Founded in 2015, the Bangalore-based company operates in more than 100 cities and has completed over 100 million rides to date.
BluSmart Mobility is India’s first all-electric ride-sharing platform. Operating only in Delhi NCR and Bangalore, the Gurugram-based startup offers point-to-point pickup services with multiple stops, counting more than 1.47 million riders since its launch in 2019. During this time, the company has saved over 38,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, and partnered with Tata Power to fuel its fleet of vehicles with clean energy.
Nykaa is an e-commerce startup that sells beauty, wellness and fashion products. Headquartered in Mumbai, the company curates a wide selection of products from over directly sourced 2,400 brands made available for purchase through their website, app and 100 physical brick-and-mortar shops. In 2020, Nykaa became the first woman-led startup that reached unicorn status in India, and was named as one of the most influential companies by Time100 two years later.
ShareChat is the largest India-based social network, hosting an average of 325 million monthly users. Founded in 2015, the app allows users to share messages, photos, videos, audio clips and status updates in over 15 Indian languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Marathi. ShareChat’s sister platform, Moj, is a video sharing app similar to TikTok, which was banned in 2020.
Swiggy is a food delivery app that offers a vast selection of cuisines and swift service. Headquartered in Bangalore, the startup has expanded to over 650 cities and, since its launch in 2014, diversified beyond pizza and biryanis. Customers can have documents delivered, medicines dropped off or their laundry picked up across its platform. To date, it’s completed over three billion orders.
CRED is the Bangalore-based fintech startup behind its members-only credit card banking app that rewards users for timely bill payments. More than 25 million subscribers use the platform to manage multiple cards on one account, make rent payments and even take out short-term credit lines. Its AI-driven system offers a credit score analysis, complete with spend patterns and card usage statistics.
Founded in 2016, boAt launched as a lifestyle brand for electronic wearables, and has now become India’s top seller of audio devices. Known for its stylish, high-quality headphones, earbuds and speakers, it also sells a variety of electronics, like power banks, cables and hair trimmers, as well as wearables, like smartwatches.
BharatPe is a fintech startup that helps small-and-medium-sized businesses through its digital payment platform. With just a QR code, BharatPe enables shops to take payments from multiple apps, like Google Pay and Paytm, in one place. It also offers business loans, short-term credit and deferred payment options in order to promote digital commerce and simplify financial services for small shop owners.
